Tilted Kilt opening night!!!!!!!!

Finally the long anticipated OPENING NIGHT!!!!!!!!!  Opening night was on a Friday night which added to the chaos being a weekend night.

The dressing room situation was twice as bad as it was the day before.  Pretty much every single staff member was here for the opening night!  Even if it was a regular night I don’t think the facilities they had for changing and the amount of lockers available is that great at this Tilted Kilt.  I really don’t have a point of reference though because I’ve never been a server where I had to change into a costume at work.  I still think they could have had a much better dressing area especially given that the building was newly constructed.  Some of us even had to go to the regular bathroom in the restaurant to change because there was not enough room.

Since it was so hectic with the amount of people there Theresa said she’d didn’t have time to do the uniform checks so she’d tell someone personally if there was anything that needed to be changed with their hair or makeup.  I am always afraid of her this way because she’s a big fan of tons and tons of makeup.   I’ve never met a makeup artist that doesn’t think the more makeup the better.  I’m not exactly an au natural hippy but I just don’t think 2 pounds of makeup necessarily looks any better than 1 pound of makeup. 

We took a picture outside of the whole staff.  The person taking the picture had to move back extremely far to be able to get everyone in; there were like 100 servers there as well as kitchen staff, runners, hosts, trainers, and managers.  Kayla turned around and said hi to me and I didn’t recognize her at first.  She had a cute short haircut before but now she had gotten extensions and they were really long.  She looked completely different.  I don’t think it really fit her cute personality but she definitely looked good, more glamorous and sexy.

Stepping inside the restaurant I noticed it was saturated with wall to wall to wall Kilt Girls all over.  It all looked very surreal seeing this blur of red and white plaid swarming around everywhere I went before I realized I was wearing a kilt too and part of this elusive Klan.  I felt as if I had entered some sort of alternate dimension David Lynch movie. 

The restaurant was very packed and all the servers had stations of 2 tables.  For a normal restaurant that’s an extremely small station but for a restaurant opening it’s more appropriate because everyone is slower since they were just getting used to everything.  I think normally we would have a station of 4 tables which still seems a little small but if you have to spend a lot of time sitting with your tables that makes more sense to only have 4.

There was always a long line of people to ring something in which I’ve never experienced working in a restaurant.  The computers were taking forever because people had to sift through a lot of different items that they weren’t familiar with.  I’m sure by the end of the week it won’t be like this once everyone has gotten more practice.  I would hate to imagine what an opening at the Cheesecake Factory would be like because there are 1,000+ things on that menu.  That must be completely insane.  Luckily all of the trainers were still around to help as well as some other people I’d never seen before from corporate.  If not for them I don’t know what would have happened, it would have been like the blind leading the blind.

Since there were too many servers so they doubled up many of them for the same table.  Luckily that didn’t happen to me but I did get sat in the patio where hardly anyone went because it was cold outside even with the heat lamps.  In my section no one there really wanted food, mostly just drinks.  I know it’s the first night but the amount of time it took the bartenders to get these drinks was atrocious!  I waited over 20 minutes every single time!  I’d keep checking back and they weren’t ready then I’d get busy doing something and then runner would come out with the drinks and not know where to take them.  On the patio people were standing around near the heat lamps not necessarily at their tables so it was very confusing for the runner.  Some guests even just went to the bar themselves because the regular bartenders appeared to get drinks faster than the service bartenders.  There wasn’t a lack of bartenders, in fact I there were too many to the point they were stumbling over each other.  The Tilted Kilt has a lot of signature drinks so I’m sure it took awhile to adjust to making everything they weren’t familiar with.

The rest of the night was really spent walking around, trying to look busy, and getting up enough courage to talk to random tables. At one point Tara suggested that we walk around and flirt with guys so I accompanied her to her section.  She was lucky, she had the bar section which had all the customers.   There was the actual bar with chairs and behind it a long table called the Captain’s table.  A lot of girls were already here socializing, I think it was easier to go up to a bunch of people milling around then plop yourself at some random table.

At the end of the night I made about $30.  It was ridiculous.  I’ve never made so little at a restaurant even during a slow lunch shift let alone a weekend night.  Since it was opening night, I had estimated to make much more.  The patio didn’t seem like the best section to have, at least not this night.  I think it would be a great section in the summer when people were ordering food as well as drinks and the bartenders getting them in a more timely manner.  I have hope because this is just one section, I’m sure the rest will be better, it’s just the beginning.

Friends and Family Day

The first day on the floor was a soft open called friends and family.    They way it worked was the day was split into morning and evening shifts.  If you worked the morning you’d come at night with friends or family or vice versa.  Or you could tell friends and family to come in and visit you.

It was a complete madhouse in the beginning because the dressing room was overflowing with girls changing into their costumes.  You could barely move, it was hot, and purses and bags were strewn everywhere because they didn’t have enough lockers for everyone.  I think during a normal shift people’s clock-in times would be more staggered but for now everyone came in at the exact same time.  There was even a line to get into the dressing room and change, it was crazy.  Another problem was the dressing room was too small.  I was really disappointed because I had pictured something totally different.  I think I’ve been watching too much of The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Making the Team because I had envisioned more of a small locker room with a bench and a big mirror.  I also read in some girl’s Hooters blog that their dressing room had a curling iron, lotion, straighter, and other amenities.  Here, it was basically a dinky little room with one full length mirror and that was it.

After everyone was dressed we all lined up and had to get checked by management who would look at everyone in their uniform and see if we were appropriate for the floor which meant they just made sure your outfit fit properly and your hair and makeup were ‘camera ready’.

It was weird for the first hour because there were hardly any people in the restaurant.  Girls were just walking around with no direction and really nothing to do.  I didn’t have a table for a good hour or so, I walked around and talked to the other girls.  I met Alex and Staci who were hilarious and full of energy,

almost as much as Leanne.  They were very social and were some of the people who had requested everyone on Facebook.  Since they did everything together people even called them Alexi.  I tried to run more food to get the hang of the table numbers and identifying all the different menu items but there wasn’t enough food to run so people were just standing in line waiting to run the next order.  The trainers seemed to get mad if they saw us in line because it was more important that we’d be entertaining our tables than waiting to run food.  Most of us didn’t have tables yet so the trainers told us to talk to other people’s tables. 

The first table I had wasn’t even friends or family.  They were a couple in their 60s who had thought we were already open.  I asked management what I should do because they weren’t friends or family and the check was going to be comped.  Kevin said to tell them that tonight I was inviting them as my friend. 

Even though we made an exception for them the couple seemed to complain a lot.  I never understood people who complained that got things for free.  The man became really irritated that he couldn’t order a beer from the bar.  For friends and family night there were only a few drinks to choose from.  The reasoning was the bartenders could get practice making the special signature Tilted Kilt drinks.  In theory the bartenders already knew how to pour a beer so that was not offered on friends and family night.   When I explained this to him he kept asking if I could make an exception so I asked the trainers and they said no.  Then they also got a little testy about not being able to order whatever they wanted because it was only a choice among 3 or 4 entrees.   I felt bad that they couldn’t order what they wanted but they already knew they were on a night when they technically weren’t supposed to be there as well as they were eating for free.  The woman ordered the fettuccine and complained that the dish was way too spicy for her so I got her something else.  I had tried it during training and I didn’t think it was that spicy at all. She said I should warn everyone next time how spicy it was and said something weird like younger people usually had more of a tolerance for spicy food so that’s why I probably didn’t realize it was so spicy. 

 The couple seemed more like a curmudgeonly Denny’s 4pm crowd than the typical Tilted Kilt crowd and I was wondering why an older couple would want to come here in the first place.  Either way The Tilted Kilt is for everyone, all walks of life but it’s definitely geared to a more party some younger crowd, usually male or the going out drinks and watching sports type crowd.  I sat down with them for a little bit to socialize.  It turns out they were from a retirement community nearby apparently it was one of the biggest in the state, almost like a small city.  The woman asked where we found so many pretty girls.   I told her Craigslist which sounds funny but it’s true. Practically everyone I know found out about the Tilted Kilt hiring there besides that girl Leah who Theresa had seen in person at the park and told her to apply. 

The other table I had was another couple in their 60s as well.  They knew about friends and family so it made it easier because I didn’t have to explain how things worked.  They were neighbors of some girl I never met but she actually worked in the morning so I waited on them instead.   Since they arrived right before the kitchen closed (I think they were even the last table of the night) I was told to ring the whole order in at once so the kitchen could finish up.   It was weird because they actually got their dessert 20 minutes before their entrees since everything was rung in at once.     

All in all the night went pretty smoothly and I had a really good time.   I got better with knowing the table numbers and recognizing the food to run.  

The Tilted Kilt test

The last day of training was the dreaded test.  I know a lot of girls skipped classes that day to study for it.  

It wasn’t hard like Calculus hard but there was a ton of information to remember.  The menu itself was very extensive but we also had to know all the drinks and the table numbers.  I just made flashcards and studied everything.  The test didn’t have as

many questions as I thought it would but I’m glad I studied so hard because we could have been tested on anything.  Theresa said she’d call people later that night if they didn’t pass and they would have to retake it again.

Overall I though the week of training went smoothly.  It was broken down and very cultivated and organized.  I think the company takes a lot of pride in their brand and try to make their food as good as possible.  Some people think that places like the Tilted Kilt are simple to get hired and work at or might think it’s some stupid job until you find something better.  I feel it was actually a much harder job than I imagined.  Not only did you have to memorize an extensive menu and do everything a regular server would do but you also had to think of creative ways to entertain your guests and find time to sit down with each table while juggling your other tables.  In addition you needed to do all this while making sure your hair and makeup constantly looked like you were about to go on TV.  To top it off you had to constantly be in check on your weight because if you gained any weight you might run the risk of not fitting in your costume.   

A lot of people say shit about the sluttiness of the costume.  I don’t see how it’s different from what girls wear on Halloween or costume parties.  I’ve seen much skankier outfits at sorority theme parties.  This job is perfect for those who like to dress up on Halloween.  It’s Halloween every day at work or in the Tilted Kilt’s case it’s Saint Patrick’s Day every day!  If you think of it when you are in costume it makes work fun and helps you get into character.  Some might say it’s degrading but not everyone is degraded the same way.  Some girls thrive on being the center of attention and being able to engage with people while at work. 

Those types might feel more degraded as a person having to sit in a quiet office filing all day with no one to talk to.  I know breastaruants like Tilted Kilt and Hooters pride themselves on hiring lots of different types of girls however I really think the girls are all the same in the sense that they are all very social and like getting attention.  I don’t think a girl would enjoy or survive in a place like this if she weren’t some sort of attention ham.  You know the type, they have a different selfie each day or post about every little thing she does on Facebook or Twitter.

I have a newfound respect for the people that work in these types of restaurants.  You really do it all.

Training Day 3

The third day of training we took our expertise from learning about food and beverage and transitioned it to service by practicing role playing.  I had been sitting at a table with Tara, Lindsey, and Anastasia.  I liked them because they were less girly girl than the rest and were into having fun.  One of us would be the server and the others guests.  We’d be as obnoxious as possible asking really stupid questions and ordering made up stuff that wasn’t on the menu then give our server a hard time; just stupid silly stuff.  A trainer would come by eventually and evaluate our performance.  It really helped a lot especially with the ones who have never been servers before which I’d say was the majority of the girls there. 

Carol was in charge of the host stand and she showed us the system they used to rotate the tables just so we’d know how the hostesses worked.  That was challenging because there were so many of us milling around the stand that not everyone could really get a good look of what was going on.   We also went over the computer system.  With so many menu items it was hard to remember where everything went.  Luckily they used Aloha which is a very popular restaurant computer system.  If not I would have been totally lost. 

Every day I kept seeing newer girls that they had just hired.  I saw one that had worked at a previous Tilted Kilt and was one of their calendar girls.  She was only 19 but had on so much makeup that she looked much much older and her face almost didn’t look real, almost like porcelain doll.   I felt bad for her that she had to go through the training all over again because she obviously knew what she was doing and was probably really bored.  I wondered if she relocated from the city she lived in just to work at the Tilted Kilt or she was going to move here anyway.

 

Theresa told us all to get ready to make some serious money!   While she was training for manager at the

restaurant near corporate she said the servers walked with close to $400.  Girls’ eyes bulged out of their sockets when they heard that.  I don’t see how that’s entirely possible.  Maybe if those servers were working on a Saturday double shift with overtime and no break during a fight night or some big game I could see that.   But that had to be an exaggeration; you couldn’t possibly make that much on a normal shift.  The only people that really make that much consistently in a night are bottle service waitresses in a major city like NYC or Vegas.  Them or strippers.

I think Theresa was being a little misleading.  Maybe she meant $400 a week?  Working 4 days taking home $100 a shift sounds more realistic for our menu prices.  I hope I’m wrong because $400 a shift would be awesome.

Tilted Kilt Training Day 2

Luckily I never got that dreaded call so I was in! 

Since there were so many people it was hard to keep track of everyone so I’m not sure who was cut and who wasn’t.  Training was long and tiring because there were so many things to learn on the menu.  We went over all the ingredients of everything on the menu and what it was served with.  I must say the Tilted Kilt has a very big impressive selection of food.  They had some traditional British dishes like Shepherd’s Pie, as well as pasta, steak, pizza, burgers, and wings.  I think they are trying to have a more sophisticated menu than places like Hooters.

Barbie was the head of the bar at her restaurant.  She went over each drink with us, what it was made with, what was popular, and what to do if a guest had too much to drink.  The Tilted Kilt has a huge selection of different cocktails and a really

good selection of beer.  It’s a lot to take in especially if you don’t drink a lot and aren’t familiar with beers and liquors.  Barbie was so energetic and cute.  She even got a round of applause after her presentation which was funny because we didn’t do that with any of the other trainers.  I think it surprised her just as much and made her day.

Kevin went over again on how WE were very important to the brand and people came there to see us.  He said treat the guests like they were your friends and just hang with them.  He showed us slides of different kilt girls doing things to entertain their guests.  One made up some cup stacking game and another did hula hooping.  To them it seemed cute and fun but to be honest it looked kind of dumb to me. 

During the beaks I took advantage of talking with the other girls, it was a very social time. I talked to Kiki for the first time who was one of Theresa’s favorites; she was the girl who met the investors in uniform a few months back before we opened.  She was rail thin and had a huge chest.  She had some boyfriend that played college football in another state and looked like the perfect future football player’s wife.  I bonded with Tara and Lindsey who I met at the Super Bowl party and their friend Anastasia.  Anastasia had this crazy fun hair.   She was the coolest person I met there, very carefree and a total hippy.   I nicknamed her Awesomeness because she was just that cool and awesome to be around.

During the break we were able to try the food and we did this every day throughout the week.    

I couldn’t get accustomed as to how they served the food at the tasting.  They’d put a big helping out of all different types of dishes and people would

grab a little here and there for their plate.   It was a sample free for all.   I know there were a lot of us and we all need to try every dish but it just seemed really gross to do it this way.   People looked like ravaging scavengers.  There had to be a more sanitary way to do this, possibly cutting items up beforehand so everyone wasn’t touching it at the same time?  Maybe buffet style?  I don’t know but there had to have been a better way.  I’m not a germaphobe, I’ll eat a cookie if it’s fallen on the floor or share drinks with people but I got very grossed out that 30 girls were all touching the same nachos.

First Day of Training

4 trainers flew out who worked at various Tilted Kilts: Barbie, Sasha, Carol, and Brownie.  Barbie seemed extremely young and doe eyed, I would have guessed her to be 18 but since she ran the bar at her restaurant she had to be at least 21.  Sasha was extremely pretty but wore such heavy eye makeup she looked really mean.  Carol who was in her 30s was pretty but never looked even close to being ‘camera’ ready (even though it was training the trainers were always full on hair and makeup ‘camera ready’), she reminded me more of a soccer mom than Kilt Girl. Brownie (this was a cute little nickname she gave herself) who was almost 40 yet had such a spunky personality that she could pull off being a Kilt Girl.  Kevin was the only one from the corporate office based in Arizona and was pretty cute.  I wondered if his girlfriend was jealous of him always flying around to all the new Kilt openings and being around attractive girls all day long.

The very first night we had to introduce ourselves and do an adjective to our name.   I think that itself, took an hour because there were so many people.  I finally got to see everyone who was hired.  It was a big mix, the girls ranged from stunning to not attractive at all.   

We learned the company slogan which was “A cold beer never looked so good”. The 7 Steps of Service was introduced about what was expected to be delivered with every table.  I’d mention them but I don’t know if they have some sort of copyright on them so I don’t want to mess around with that.  There was a slide show where we were shown Cassie which is the drawing of the red head girl in the Tilted Kilt’s website and marketing photos, essentially a mascot.  I guess she would be what the Owl was to Hooters.  Each letter of Cassie’s name had a positive adjective on how the image of the Kilt Girl was to be portrayed.  After Cassie we were shown her renegade sister, Sassy.  Sassy was a picture of some girl who worked in marketing at corporate dressed in an ill fitting kilt giving a scowl and smoking a cigarette.  Negative adjectives for the letters of her name were used as to how she wasn’t ‘brand appropriate’.    It was a pretty funny and a creative way to get the proper image across.  I was impressed how they organized everything and broke things down for training purposes. 

 

Our trainer Kevin emphasized that the people that came to the Tilted Kilt came to see US.  We were not order takers but relationship builders.  To be a Kilt Girl meant that we were special and we were there to entertain all of our tables as well as anyone else in the restaurant.   Entertaining meant sitting down with your tables and engaging in conversation beyond regular server interaction.  We were to get to know our tables and treat them like they were our friends, play games, tell, jokes, etc. 

This would make the guests feel more taken care of and tip higher than the regular standard 15%-20%. 

He said you’d make the same amount of tips at the Kilt with less tables than you would at a regular restaurant with a bigger station or more tables through the shift because you would be able to give more attentive and more personal service.  The trainers kept emphasizing over and over again people went there to see US.  WE were special and IMPORTANT.  I can see how this could get to some people’s head when they took it outside of work. I’ve worked in a few restaurants before and am already used to juggling tables and being fast so this sit down thing is all new for me. 

Theresa told us that at the end of the night we would try on our uniforms in front of corporate (the trainers) and that they would be doing the first cuts.  It gave me flashbacks of sorority rush.  She said the cuts were based on who corporate didn’t feel fit the brand image.  Is this normal?  It seems to me that if they weren’t the brand image they wouldn’t be hired in the first place, wouldn’t that make more sense?  I guess they meant something like corporate knows who is right and who isn’t but I’d give the manager the benefit of the double in who she chooses to hire as being deemed brand appropriate.  Theresa said she’d have to call people later that night to tell them if they didn’t make it.  It all sounded very Draconian.

We got in uniform and lined up in our uniforms to what seemed like forever because there were so many people.  I was there at least 40 minutes.  I saw Leanne again who was talking up a storm with everyone.  So far she was the most energetic girl I met, perfect for the Kilt.  I didn’t notice before but this time in the costume I saw a huge tattoo on her neck.  The Tilted Kilt unlike Hooters allows tattoos.  Hooters claims to represent the All American girl.  Well the All American girl has changed.  I feel more girls under the age of 25 have some sort of tattoo than not.  I praised the Tilted Kilt for not being so old fashioned about that policy.  That being said though I saw a lot of gaudy unflattering tattoos.  Some covered the whole stomach and I saw a few arm sleeve tattoos.   Some girls actually looked more appropriate for a rough biker bar than a casual ‘family style’ restaurant. 

When we got up to the trainers they eyed us up and down like a designer evaluating the models to see how the clothes fit then wrote down our size and we were done.

Training! Finally!

One day low and behold we were told when training would begin!  I was very happy that this day finally arrived!  We were given about 3 days notices of when we had to be ready to start and the training was every day for a week with one day off.  This was tricky to do last minute because at this point I was in school, working another part time job, and had a professional internship for my major.  Somehow I made it work getting everything in.

The first step was to sign up for training.  You could attend either a day or evening session.  Apparently the management had never heard of shared Google Docs and it was too complex for them to coordinate all of the staff so everyone had to go there in person and physically sign up.  There was a sign in sheet passed around for each of the 5 different training days and everyone signed up for the morning or afternoon training session.   

 

While the majority of the girls lived nearby some lived in the next county over and I know a couple lived  almost an hour away so I thought it was a little unreasonable to have these girls to come all the way out there unpaid for 10-15 minutes just to sign up on these sheets.  Kayla the girl I met during orientation was very stressed out because she had a mandatory outdoor backpacking trip that weekend for school.  She had some unique major like wilderness studies or something like that.  The trip was basically part of her grade so she couldn’t get out of it. 

Kayla was told to bring a note from her teacher. OMG are we still in high school?  I get that they need everyone for training to learn everything but it’s their fault for keep

pushing the training back every week for a couple of months then giving us 3 days notice on when it starts.   Kayla would be fine; she could catch up especially since it was known they were hiring newer girls that week.   I thought it was ridiculous that they made it such a big deal for her since some of the new hires wouldn’t be there for the whole training.

Theresa seemed very stressed out and was snappy with a lot of the girls.  Restaurant openings can be stressful and crazy.

Runaround

We were told to be ready the weekend after the photo shoot for possible training dates but that weekend turned into the next weekend and so on and so on.  Another month had passed since the photo shoot.  I don’t know much about liquor licenses but I guess it takes forever for them to go through.  Either that or it wouldn’t have surprised me in this case if someone had filled out some of the paperwork late or wrong and it had to be redone which caused the delay. 

It was a bit annoying that every time I thought I was going to start training and got time off from my other job only have it be pushed back over and over.  Luckily I had another part time job to make money but I wondered about people like Casey who were counting on this job.   It didn’t seem right and I had no idea why they’d hire people 5 months before opening.  I even heard that they started in the summer so basically some people had been waiting around 7 months. 

The Facebook page was being utilized a lot.  It was the best way to share information.  I wonder how they did store openings in the days before Facebook, that would have been a big pain.  Girls kept posting on the page saying they were being positive, putting positive energy out to the universe to open soon, and they couldn’t wait for the opening to happen because it would be so fun.  Everyone really wanted to start work and start making money. 

Theresa mentioned again that we always had to be at our prime because they weren’t keeping everyone.  A few postings later she mentioned needing to hire more girls because she was afraid of losing some because the opening was taking so long and to let our friends know if they were looking for a job.  Funnily enough some girls took it upon themselves to delete those postings about hiring more people.  Since everyone was part of the group anyone had access to do this.   

The Facebook page was also used for other info like informing everyone to pick up their shoes.  Theresa mentioned that many times so I guess some people were being really lackadaisical about getting them.  The shoes could only be bought online from a vendor using a special Tilted Kilt Code and could only be delivered to the store directly.  They had some sort of trademark on the exact pattern of the kilt so I guess the company didn’t want just anyone wearing the Tilted Kilt shoes either which were basically just Mary Janes with non stick soles on the bottom.  Theresa also offered a good deal to anyone who wanted to do a mystic tan because she had her own equipment for it.  People look better tan in that outfit anyway.

Photo Shoot

The construction was finished but they still were waiting on the liquor license and we didn’t know how long that would take.  Though the restaurant wasn’t open it didn’t stop Theresa for making sure that her girls were eligible for the Tilted Kilt Calendar.  She had hired a photographer to come to the pub to take photos for us which we would then be able to submit to corporate to be in the running for the yearly calendar. 

Theresa was a former makeup artist and very into makeup, hair styling, and photo shoots.  She had even said that eventually later this year she wanted to do separate calendar for just our own branch of the Tilted Kilt and she would handle all the makeup for that.  I think she even had arranged some separate photo shoots because all of a sudden I saw a lot of the girls posting bikini photo sessions on their Facebook profiles. 

I got there really early and Theresa was doing someone’s makeup which took almost an hour.  She made a point to say that she wasn’t going to do every person’s makeup because she had promised only a few people that she would help them and she didn’t have time to do everyone.  Even though she hadn’t promised everyone there were still a lot of people she did make up for who hadn’t pre-arranged it so girls started waiting in line for her.  She kinda of selected who would go next like a bouncer would have at Studio 54 where he let some people in and let others wait.  You could tell who she thought would have a better chance at getting in the calendar and who she wasn’t going to prioritize.  I wonder if the manager gets a prize or a bonus if one of their staff members is selected for the calendar.

The day was pretty long, I was there almost 5 hours because there were so many people.  It might have been a bit better to have done specific time slots but I don’t think they knew how many people would show up.  I talked with some other TK girls while I was waiting.  I was always impressed on how nice everyone was.  I guess people are on their best behavior but a place with that many females usually has some sort of cattiness.  I talked a lot with Avery, who was really, really nice, I liked her a lot.  I had already seen her post a lot on the Facebook page about not being able to do some events because she was stuck at work.   She was around 26 and had graduated college a few years back.  She just wanted a change from the humdrum life of her office job.  I think she was at that itchy age where she was young enough to still do something like the Tilted Kilt but old enough where she was having a Quarter-life crisis moment; trying to figure out what career path to take in her life.  Another girl I talked to was Casey who had also already graduated.  She had worked in an office as well but was pursuing acting so she thought the Tilted Kilt would be more flexible with auditions.  Casey was a little worried because she had given her job two weeks notice thinking we’d open by now because they kept saying they’d open soon.   Now she was in a bind because we still didn’t have an exact date and she had no job with bills to pay. 

 

A blond girl who I briefly noticed at the orientation had gotten extensions and acrylic nails.  She looked good before but the enhancements really did make a difference, she looked very glamorous.  They are really serious about looking camera ready, it’s not just regular makeup but they want you really to play a role and do as much as you can like extensions, extensive tanning, curl your hair for two hours, maybe even Botox for some.   While she looked more stunning though, I never understood the thing with acrylic nails and serving food.  The Tilted Kilt or Hooters is the only place you could ever get away with this.  Someone’s hands might look nice with a French manicure in photos the day after their manicure but I guarantee if they work an 8 hour shift running food and clearing up tables the nails will look pretty gross after.

So I got my pictures taken and later was given a CD of all of the photos.

Superbowl Party

The dates kept getting pushed back and back for opening day.  At one point we even heard that it would be opening on the Super Bowl which sounded pretty absurd because that day at any sports pub is crazy busy enough.  The restaurant had finally finished construction but now the issue was they didn’t have their liquor license.

For a sports bar it was entirely puzzling and pretty ridiculous how they didn’t have their liquor license all sorted out from the beginning.  Some restaurants could open without it and get it eventually like a café but there is no way that a place where their slogan is “A cold beer never looked so good" could open without it; not an option.

On the Facebook page they mentioned that there would be a Super Bowl party and it was advised to go to meet the other girls.  We weren’t allowed to bring friends but food and drinks would be served. I thought that really sucked but I could understood they wanted it to be more of a meet and greet and since there was free alcohol they didn’t want it to get out of hands with us bringing all of our friends.   I knew of some other Super Bowl parties so I almost didn’t go but I decided to because I always had a feeling that you were in Theresa’s good favor if you attended activities.  She always made a point about mentioning getting involved and she said she noticed things like that who went to activities.  It was like you were on constant guard to always impress her. 

When I got there I noticed there were more guys than girls.  I guess there were some kitchen staff and friends of the managers.  At first it was kind of awkward because I didn’t know anyone and I almost wanted to leave. I knew that would be stupid because the whole point was to make an impression on the managers.  I sat down next to some girls on the long bar table.   I met the other manager Vivian who was kind of a rocker chick in her 30s with two kids.  She seemed waay younger and extremely cool and down to earth.  I guess she originally got hired as a kilt girl but was promoted to manager because she had a lot of experience.  I thought they’d have more activities to get to know everyone but I guess since it was the Super Bowl they didn’t want to disturb the game. 

There were girls trying out the uniform and taking pictures.  I felt almost uncomfortable doing this because I wasn’t prepared for it, like I hadn’t tanned and gotten ‘camera ready’.  I feel you kind of need to tan for that outfit because it’s so revealing.    I just started talking to people and met a lot of cool and fun girls there.  There was Desiree who looked like she had some sort of lip injections.  She was very nice but on first impressions I’d say she looked kind of plastic, like I could see her on one of those Real Housewives shows in 15 years.  She had another job at a tanning salon and was looking for a second job.  There was Leanne who had just turned 18.  She was extremely energetic and kept saying she was just sooo excited to be there!!  I met Shelia who was a college athlete that had recently graduated.  She wasn’t conventionally pretty and a little on the bigger side.  She didn’t seem the type to work at the Tilted Kilt because she wasn’t girly or bubbly at all but she was so cool and laid back. There was Leah, a no nonsense blond beach chick.  She said she had been riding her bike and was waived over by Theresa who told her that she should come work for the Tilted Kilt.  I also met Tara and Lindsey who were roommates and besties.  I could tell already I’d really like them because they were really articulate and fun.

I finally decided to don the outfit because it would look dumb if everyone else took some pics and I just sat there drinking.  It was kind of fun walking around in costume.  Theresa took pictures of all of us and then of each of us individually.    I began to get the feeling that half of this job will be serving food and the other half constantly taking pictures. 

I was excited for the restaurant to finally open because it seems like such a fun place to work at and basically you’d have this big group of friends.

Facebooking

I never heard anything for that weekend; we still had no clue when the training and opening would be.   

Theresa had some girls set up a Facebook Group which helped because that way she could put posts up on what was going on and people could comment.   Some girls requested everyone as their friend which was so weird for me because I didn’t know them yet but I just accepted everyone, why not?

Girls would post and be overly energetic, constantly saying things like, “I can’t wait to meet everyone!!!!, I’m so excited!!!!, This is going to be so amazing!!!!  I think all of the overzealous posts were due to the fact that Theresa said she wouldn’t be keeping us all at the orientation.  She even said that the more energetic we were the better so I think a lot of these girls posted just so they came across as being more worthy of keeping because they were so enthusiastic.

Theresa kept mentioning on how she wanted everyone to be friends and hang out with each other.  That seemed a little odd, I understand the importance of friendship and camaraderie at work but work is not the same as a sorority or a club.  People are busy, pretty much everyone there was in school and I’m sure had boyfriends and other friends.   Probably everyone would hang out more once the restaurant opened but until then it seemed a little forced.

There was one hangout at the park planned posted on the wall and some girls were talking about it.  I really didn’t have time to go because I had classes.  A lot of girls posted that that they couldn’t go because they had school or work but really wanted to go and was so excited to meet everyone!  I had sort of the feeling that the more events you would do the more likely you’d be a favorite.  She also had planned a day where we’d go downtown and pass out Tilted Kilt flyers.

Orientation

Orientation was held in the end of January at a hotel conference room, the same hotel where I had my fitting.  There were probably at least 100 girls that showed up which was crazy because there was more than one orientation time.  This was the first time I thought okay this is it; this place is finally going to open soon!  First it was supposed to be open in Nov, then Dec, and now it’s January so hopefully Feb it would open? 

There were tables set up in a big conference room with coffee, cookies, and fruit.  I met a girl named Kayla at my table who was very cute and nice and we talked for awhile.  She was 18 and went to the state school majoring in forestry or something unique like that.  She seemed like a nice girl but not overly done up or talkative like some of the other girls. Most of the other girls were pretty, some really done up with the makeup while others more casual looking like they were going to the beach.   I noticed a lot of blondes.

For the orientation they actually had someone from an outsourced corporate company going over all the paperwork to make sure it was filled out correctly.  It seems crazy and expensive to hire someone specifically for this but I guess with a restaurant opening you have so many new staff members that it’s probably more efficient this way.  After doing all the paperwork we watched a video on sexual harassment. 

Theresa talked a lot about future training at the restaurant which still did not have a specific date. She made a point to tell us to look around because they weren’t going to keep everyone.  I thought that was kind of a weird thing to say.  I think her point was to keep us on our toes and made sure we were on par at work.  Yeah some girls aren’t going to make it either because they aren’t a good server (many people actually lie on their application if they have no server experience. During an opening a manager isn’t going to bother to call 100 people’s references.) or they don’t take the job seriously, or they just don’t think the place is right for them. However usually when a restaurant opens they do over hire people yet servers tend to weed themselves out rather than a manager telling people they might not make it. To specifically tell everyone to look around seemed overly dramatic and made me feel like I was on America’s Next Top Model where everyone else was our competition that we had to beat. 

At the end of the orientation then were told to be ready for that weekend for information on the training dates.

Random Meeting

The interview and fitting was in October and we were told that the restaurant was slated to open in late November or early December.  Due to my calculations that meant it would open in February because no new restaurant ever opens when it says it will and looking at where they were in the construction process I thought even January might be pushing it. 

November came and went.  December came but is a weird time to open anyway because of the holidays.  Instead of opening they had a meeting that was actually kind of pointless.   About 40 girls and even 1 guy (I guess guys are allowed to be bartenders and they wear a kilt as well) showed up.  From the people I talked with I’d say pretty much everyone either went to the local state school or junior college and 1 girl was in beauty school.  Everyone looked about 18-21 with a few looking mid to late 20s.  There was a big number of girls that had just graduated high school the previous year.  I think one got hired and then all their friends came down to apply.  It was interesting to see who else they had hired for the job.

Theresa said something like she had hand selected certain girls to meet the investors while wearing the outfit and mentioned some girl named Kiki at the meeting who looked a lot like Barbie but more athletic.  Theresa appeared to be very into appearances.   Although in general everyone who gets hired at the Tilted Kilt is pretty I sensed some sort of attractiveness hierarchy being formed.  I could tell that Theresa would be really nice to the girls she thought were hot but cordial or couldn’t be bothered with the ones she thought were just pretty or average.

Theresa said corporate didn’t know when exactly the restaurant would be open but it would be ‘soon’.  We got to walk through the inside which was still heavily under construction with dust and tools everywhere so I was worried that their definition of soon was different from mine.  

The Uniform Interview

So I went to my Tilted Kilt ‘fitting’.  Since the restaurant was still under construction there was nowhere there to try on the uniform so they booked a hotel across the street.  It seemed a bit creepy though especially since there was some sort of motorcycle show convention type thing outside with many biker guys hanging around who somehow knew what the suite was being used for.  It was a little weird but at the same time if you can’t handle guys leering at you then maybe it’s a sign you aren’t cut out for working at a place like the Tilted Kilt. 

I saw some really pretty blond typical California looking girl walking around who appeared lost.   I asked her if she was looking for the suite. Sure enough she was looking for the same thing so we teamed up to find the room together since it was a very confusing floor plan.  Inside there was no bed (now that I think if it did the hotel actually have to take it out for the fittings or were there certain rooms that came like that?) The manager Theresa was there with some really cute extremely skinny brunette girl already in the uniform.  The brunette girl worked at another Tilted Kilt and was there to help administer the uniforms and I guess be a representative as to how it was supposed to look like on.  They needed to fit us to make sure we fit the uniform and order our sizes.

The uniform reminded me of what you’d get at an adult store (the skirt actually has Velcro for easy removal) or for a very sexy Halloween costumes (think Mean Girls, sexy bunny, sexy mouse, etc).  The top is a kilt fabric bra with a tiny white shrug that has the brand name on it.  The costume is accompanied with long white socks decorated in red what they called ‘flashings’ with black Mary Jane shoes.   It looked really cute and sort of fun.

The blond girl I came with had the perfect Tilted Kilt Girl look.  It was kind of pointless to even have this girl try on the outfit because she was one of those girls that you knew would be a definite yes.  She also seemed like one of those girls that could probably mess up orders more than most and be cut waaay more slack because of how pretty she was.

Mercedes, the other girl trying on the outfit unfortunately wasn’t that cute.  Not to be mean or anything, I just want to be as accurately descriptive as possible.  I couldn’t really envision her working there.  She was a little older probably around 29 or so and had this short ugly haircut.  When she tried on the kilt her stomach spilled out of it and it looked really bad.  She wasn’t an obese person but there is a difference between being technically obese and looking fat in a skimpy outfit.   

Even a relatively thin person would look like shit in that outfit if they weren’t toned because it totally shows off your midriff.  The skirt is really short so if you had any type of cellulite on your thighs (like most women do), it would be very obvious.  In fact I think the Hooters outfit is easier to pull off because it hides so much more.  The shirt covers your whole stomach and there are also dark tan nylons to suck everything in, as well as being a shield from unsightly cellulite or spider veins.   I was surprised Mercedes would want to work there; she really was spilling out of the outfit.  Theresa said that she’d see if they had a bigger belt buckle, she’d have to check with the head manager but in general Mercedes tried on a large and that was the biggest size they had.   If you couldn’t fit the outfit you couldn’t get hired.   

Theresa was actually being really really nice to her and telling her how much of a cute girl with a good

personality she had and she’d love to have her work there blah blah blah.  I thought that was very nice of her and  I thought she gave Mercedes a little too much credit but I guess you have to do that if you are basically rejecting them from a job due to body size.  I don’t know if she was just blowing smoke up her ass or she actually thought there might be a possibility but seeing her in that outfit I just don’t see how that could possibly be.  Mercedes kept joking “I can’t help with what my mom gave me,” and I kept thinking, um well you actually might be able to if you tried.

I tried on my outfit and went in front of Theresa for approval.  She asked if I felt comfortable in the outfit, would I feel comfortable wearing it during work, yes, yes, yada, yada. 

The perfect blond girl and I both got a ‘you made it’.  Yeah! I jumped up for joy like an idiot.  It felt like making the cheerleading squad.  Theresa said that the restaurant would be opening late the next month and she’d contact us for training date specifics.  

The Initial Interview

I saw an ad in Craigslist for an open call.  In my experience working in restaurants and bars open calls can be a nightmare or they can be more advantageous.  It can be a nightmare if it’s a specific time slot on one specific day because it’s very likely 500 people can show up and you have to wait around forever. 

Open calls can work to your advantage because you know they are definitely hiring.  It’s always frustrating spending 10 minutes on an application only to have the manager say they aren’t hiring now but will keep  your application on file blah blah blah then put it on the stack of 50+ applications they have.  This way you always get a chance to meet the manager and do an interview.  Usually the interview won’t be that long because they don’t have time with the amount of people they see. 

The interview was held outside of the Tilted Kilt because the pub was still under construction.  I still find it funny they call it a pub because I see it as any other chain American restaurant.  I only say that because I’ve actually been to pubs in Ireland and the UK and the Tilted Kilt is nothing close even though they try to make it like they are.  The manager named Theresa had a little table outside and it had a huge stack of applications.  I’m always wary of restaurants that are still under construction because they never ever open when they say they will.  There are too many problems that can arise with construction, permits, etc.

A very tall blond skinny girl was filling out an application and we engaged in a little small talk.  It’s always best to be friendly and talkative to the other applicants because you never know who is watching.  I once had a friend who got cut from a flight attendant interview process because she made a phone call during the break instead of engaging and talking with the other applicants even thought it was their break and they weren’t expected to stay there. 

The blond girl started her interview and changed into a more obnoxious girl laughing and talking really loud.  I think it was just an act because when I was talking to her earlier she seemed more chill.  Theresa just asked her about her previous job.  She had worked at a bikini store before which seemed like perfect TK material.  Theresa told her about a fitting to attend Saturday so I knew that she was doing scheduling for second interviews on the spot.

My interview wasn’t really much of anything.  I have a feeling when you open a restaurant you can never do a proper interview because there are too many people to interview.   Usually they’ll go by first impressions and gut feelings.   She asked me about my previous job and the only real question she did ask was what would I do if I saw a fellow server give away a free drink.  That was it then she asked me to come in Saturday for a fitting.  Awesome  I hope I get this job!

Intro

A new restaurant concept taken shape in the mid to late millennium called 'Breastaurants' has taken form.  Pretty much everyone is familiar now with Hooters which started in the early 80s and was one of its kind at the time.  With a mix of sexual innuendo bar type atmosphere but mixed with a benign friendly bright light family atmosphere made the restaurant thrive for almost 3 decades.  In the last millennium other entrepreneurs took a hold of this model to produce new restaurants that embraced this concept especially in these harsh financial times and produced such places at Tilted Kilt, Bone Daddy’s, Twin Peaks, Wing House, etc etc.  How are they different that Hooters?  Well each restaurant has its own theme and of course mission statement that establishes each other differently.  But who are we kidding? It’s like comparing Applebee’s to Chili’s.  Sure they are different, they have a different name and menu but when you think American style chain restaurant that has greasy hearty portions, great appetizers, full bar with happy hour and a place for kids and the elderly to enjoy alike, well then those types of restaurants are really the same now aren’t they?    Here it’s young girls in skimpy attire flirting with their tables, being social and serving greasy filling good food.  Same thing different outfit.  So on my quest to find out what makes these restaurant tick I secured a job at the newly opened Tilted Kilt.  This is my experience.

Blogging

This blog started as a school project for a writing class a couple of years ago.  I got busy with school so I never was able to do it while I worked at the Kilt and then it morphed in my list of things to do forever but finally now I have time to post it.   There seems to be a few blogs on working at Hooters but mostly nothing for the Kilt and I wanted to add information since a lot of people have asked me questions about working there.